Job Breakdown: GEICO's Inflated Job Title That Screams Nonsense

Matviy Cherniavski

Aug 12 • Job Market Monday

📌 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗯?

𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲: Senior Software Engineer, QA Automation (Remote)

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆: GEICO

𝗣𝗮𝘆 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲: $105,000 – $215,000

𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Remote (based in Chevy Chase, MD)

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸: Python, Java, C#, Azure, Docker, Kubernetes

𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: Job Link

This job title is the peak of recruiters' delusion.

"𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿, 𝗤𝗔 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻" sounds like they mashed two different job descriptions together and hoped nobody would notice.

🔗 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘇𝘇𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗽:

GEICO's recruiters clearly got carried away with the title inflation.

This happens when HR departments try to make positions sound more prestigious than they actually are.

📌 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲:

Take a regular QA automation role, sprinkle some "𝘚𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳" for extra flavor, and boom.

Instant title that sounds way more complex than the actual work.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁?

They likely struggle to find qualified QA automation engineers, so they're now trying to entice developers into this role.

⚠️ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿:

Software engineers see through title games immediately.

They know the difference between QA Automation and development.

And they know the salary difference. Usually devs make 𝟭𝟱-𝟮𝟬% 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆.

Also, companies don't offer $105k to $215k ranges for the same position unless they're flexible on experience requirements, and well, a title.

🔍 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿:

Advanced programming experience with at least one modern language such as Java, 𝗣𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗻, or C#, including object-oriented design
Proven understanding of 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 and extensible REST 𝗔𝗣𝗜𝘀
Advanced understanding of 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗢𝗽𝘀 concepts, including Azure DevOps framework and tools
Advanced 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗦𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗹 scripting skills
Advanced understanding of 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝘀 and tooling
Experience with 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻/𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴
Hands-on technical expertise in 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗤𝗔 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 and support related open-source tools

🟣 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝟭𝟬𝟬% 𝗤𝗔 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

Strip away the fancy language, and they want someone who can write test automation scripts, work with APIs, and understand basic DevOps.

🚀 𝗦𝗼, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱:

▹ Proficiency in one programming language (Python is the easiest to start with) and the ability to write automation tests.

▹ A theoretical understanding of Software Architecture, DevOps, and Monitoring (notice they did 𝗻𝗼𝘁 say "experience" or "hands-on").

▹ PowerShell skills — means knowing how to navigate folders and start a test run.

▹ Knowledge of how to integrate tests into a CI/CD pipeline.

| 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗤𝗔 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿

🎯 𝗣𝗿𝗼 𝘁𝗶𝗽: Apply directly through GEICO's website, not LinkedIn.

Large companies like GEICO often prioritize direct applications over job board submissions.

𝗣.𝗦. Have you noticed other job postings with suspiciously inflated titles? Do they make you more or less likely to apply?

1 comment

QA Automation Accelerator

skool.com/qa-automation-career-hub

Become a job-ready QA Automation Engineer/SDET in 3–4 months. AI-powered prep, real SaaS project, Certificate of Completion, and live support. 🚀

📌 Switch to SDET Free Workshop

🤖 AI QA Interviews Prep (QAmiAI)

🎓 Training Certification

Leaderboard (30-day)

+17

+12

+12